Ever since he blasted into the spotlight for his brilliant work as Gollum in Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' movie trilogy, Andy Serkis has been a mainstay of Hollywood. Whether he's acting under the guise of motion capture, or is a part of flicks using his own face, he puts on a brilliant performance and is a true leader of the industry.

Andy Serkis would love to work with Matt Reeves again

Recently tackling Supreme Leader Snoke in the new 'Star Wars' episodic movies, Serkis could be looking for yet another huge film to be a part of. That could come in the form of Matt Reeves' upcoming DC picture 'The Batman', although nothing has been made official.

It was the role that helped bring him to prominence, but actor Andy Serkis says he doesn’t think he’ll have any part to play in the upcoming ‘Lord of the Rings’ television series on Amazon.

Earlier this year, Amazon Studios bought the TV rights to the ‘Lord of the Rings’ famous book series for a sizeable $250 million fee, looking to make two series that would act as a prequel to the story.

Ever since, it’s been rumoured that Peter Jackson – the man who directed the box office-razing Lord of the Rings film trilogy in the early Noughties – was going to be involved, either behind the camera or in an executive production role. However, his official role has not been confirmed or denied as yet.

Andy Serkis at the 2018 Empire Film Awards held at the Roundhouse in London. Among this year's winners were 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi', 'Logan' and 'Get Out'. Mark Hamill was honoured with the Empire Icon Award while Steven Spielberg took home the Empire Legend of our Lifetime Award - London, United Kingdom - Sunday 18th March 2018

It's been a long time coming, but Andy Serkis' Jungle Book movie, 'Mowgli' is now just a few months away from being released. Starring Serkis in the role of Baloo, alongside Rohan Chand as Mowgli, Christian Bale as Bagheera, Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, and Cate Blanchett as Kaa, the film looks to be a darker take on Rudyard Kipling's book than we've ever seen on screen before.

Andy Serkis directs and stars as Baloo in 'Mowgli'

First announced back in 2012 by Warner Bros. Pictures, a number of names were attached to the project before the picture eventually went to Serkis. Best known for his work in the 'Lord of the Rings' movie trilogy as Sméagol, aka Gollum, 'Mowgli' will be just the second time Serkis has served as director on a film, following his directorial debut on last year's 'Breathe'.

The actor took on the role of Gollum in the Peter Jackson-directed trilogy of 'LOTR' films.

The 'Lord of the Rings' television series is something that's being worked on by Warner Bros., and not much information regarding the plot, who'll be leading the show, or exactly what we'll see in the episodes has been revealed. One actor in particular however seems to be ruling himself out of making a comeback.

Andy Serkis brought Gollum to life in the original 'LOTR' film trilogy

When Peter Jackson took on the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, adapting the novels for the big screen, the world was in awe at the incredible job he did. With that in mind, it's obvious that whoever's going to front the TV series is going to have to go above and beyond if they're to live up to the legacy he's left behind.

Andy Serkis at the European premiere of Marvel's 'Black Panther' held at the Eventim Apollo in London. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the movie follows T'Challa's adventures after the events of 'Captain America: Civil War' - London, United Kingdom - Thursday 8th February 2018

'The Jungle Book' is without a doubt one of the best known stories on the planet, but for many, especially in the Western world, it's something that's renowned because of its place in Disney. The classic story that was told through animation was in 2016 brought to live-action by Jon Favreau, but he's not the only filmmaker to become enamoured by Rudyard Kipling's 'Jungle Book' story.

Andy Serkis is bringing the 'Jungle Book' story to the big screen once more

For some time, Andy Serkis - best known for his role as Gollum in the 'Lord of the Rings' film series - has also been working on a live-action film adaptation of the 'Jungle Book' story, with a movie now officially scheduled to come out in 2018.

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago, writer-director Rian Johnson had a lot to live up to with Episode VIII. And he delivers more than anyone expected: a lucid, entertaining film that operates on four distinct planes, deepens all of its characters, enriches the mythology and constantly surprises the audience with twists and turns. It's a little overwhelming, a nonstop two and a half hours of action and intensity without any time to catch your breath. But there's also a steady stream of sharp humour to help keep things in perspective.

The story picks up straight away, as the First Order led by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) presses its advantage to wipe out the rebellion for good. Snoke is playing his apprentice Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) off against General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) for maximum effect as they launch an attack. Rebel General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is trying to protect her scrappy army, with pilot Poe (Oscar Isaac) trying against the odds to find a way to get them to safety. He sends rebel hero Finn (John Boyega) and mechanic Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) on a mission to track down a hacker who can give them a chance against the First Order. Meanwhile, Rey (Daisy Ridley) has tracked down Leia's brother, jaded Jedi master Luke (Mark Hamill), who is trying to teach her hard truths about the Force.

Each of these characters finds a surprising connection to others, derailing plans and sending each person on an unexpected journey. The way Johnson orchestrates all of this is remarkable because it's both coherent and compelling. And the actors beautifully inhabit the characters, offering telling glimpses beneath the surface. Driver has the strongest role, grappling with three other main characters to understand his destiny. It's dark and complex, and unnervingly moving. Ridley and Hamill also have powerfully gripping moments, while Isaac gets to make good on his scallywag promise in the previous film. And in her final role, the late Fisher brings a wonderfully knowing, sassy edge to Leia.

War For The Planet of the Apes fends of the competition of Marvel's Spider-Man to take the no.1 spot in the US Box Office

It was a busier weekend than usual at the box office with two monumental blockbusters going head-to-head. This weekend was dominated by 'War for the Planet of the Apes' and 'Spider-Man: Homecoming', with the former taking the no.1 spot.

The latest installment in the Apes franchise still underachieved compared to early predictions with the film grossing $56.5m from 4,022 locations, after being predicted to be around the $60m mark. This puts the film at the same level of 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', but below the intermitting 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' which scored a huge $72.6m domestic opening.

After pioneering motion-capture performance as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Andy Serkis has pushed the art further with his Planet of the Apes trilogy

The Planet Of The Apes series of films concludes with War for the Planet of the Apes, which is told through the eyes of his character Caesar. Serkis has consistently said that this kind of performance is "no different" than any other kind of acting. "An actor in a performance-capture role receives a script, works on psychology, emotions, motivation, and goes on set to be shot in exactly the same way as any other character," he says. "That performance is used to cut the movie, and it's that performance that creates emotion, pace and drama. The visual effects render the character, just like putting on makeup, except here it happens after the fact. It's digital makeup if you will."

Serkis agrees that it's a collaboration between the actor and the visual effects team. "Of course there's this whole grey area," he says. "Who takes ultimate responsibility for the characters? But without question these characters are authored by what we do on set. They are not authored by animators. Animators do amazing work translating and interpolating the characters, the facial performances. But what we're creating on set, the emotional content of the scene and the acting choices in front of the camera, if they are not there on the day, they will never be in the movie."

The surprisingly thoughtful prequel trilogy comes to a powerful conclusion with this robust, dramatic thriller, which avoids most of the annoying cliches of action blockbusters to offer something much deeper. As before, the film is anchored by a startlingly realistic motion-capture performance from Andy Serkis that fills the screen with complex emotions.

As the lab-created virus continues to sweep across the world, killing humans and giving sentient abilities to apes, a tenacious Colonel (Woody Harrelson) is making one last stand for mankind. While raiding a nearby ape village, he kills ape leader Ceasar's (Serkis) family, which finally convinces Caesar that peace with humans won't be possible. With revenge in mind, Caesar takes his faithful orangutan advisor Maurice (Karin Konoval) on a mission to track down the Colonel while arranging for the colony to make its escape. Along the way, Caesar reluctantly rescues an abandoned little girl (Amiah Miller) and a chatty orphaned ape (Steve Zahn). Meanwhile, the Colonel has holed up in a military base awaiting reinforcements from the north to wipe out the apes for good.

Unlike most action movies, this film plays out patiently, with long scenes that reveal internal motivations, deepening the characters and situations profoundly. Director Matt Reeves never rushes through a set-piece, allowing them to evolve organically, even if there are a couple of oddly convenient plot points later on. The point is that the film centres on the internalised thoughts and feelings of the characters, rather than their physicality in the big action moments. Which of course draws us into the complexities of the story and forces us to consider the bigger ideas swirling around. This also means that scenes never play out in predictable ways, constantly surprising the audience with refreshing twists that undermine and redefine the genre.

The 53 year old English actor, whose work in the field of motion-capture technology is legendary and who used it to portray Smeagol / Gollum, stopped by ‘The Late Show’ on Tuesday night (July 11th) to discuss his new project, War For the Planet of the Apes.

However, as Colbert is wont to do, discussion inevitably turned to the president Donald Trump. A regular feature of late night shows, particularly Jimmy Kimmel’s, is reading out mean tweets, so Colbert launched his own variant of this and asked his guest if he would reprise his memorable character of Gollum in order to read out some of Trump’s infamous tweets.